ReadWrite - qualcommhttp://readwrite.com/tag/qualcomm
enCopyright 2015 Wearable World Inc.http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:11:22 -0800Qualcomm's Fingerprint Reader Might Be The One We've Been Waiting For<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>Move over, Touch ID. Qualcomm has a new entrant in the fingerprint-scan wars that—according to the company—could leave Apple's existing technology in the dust.</p><p>On Monday&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qualcomm-announces-next-generation-biometrics-solution-with-its-new-snapdragon-sense-id-3d-fingerprint-technology-300043329.html">Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon Sense ID technology</a>, which it says&nbsp;can scan your finger even if it’s a little wet or dirty. It will also function through "glass, aluminum, stainless steel, sapphire, and plastics," meaning that smartphone makers can integrate the feature right into their hardware.</p><p>The problem with adapting Hollywood technologies like fingerprint scanning to real life is that consumers often find them less dazzling than on the screen. Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint recognition, for instance, won’t work if you’ve <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/09/11/apple-new-iphone-not-storing-fingerprints-doesnt-like-sweat/">hurt your finger or even if it's just sweaty</a>. </p><blockquote tml-render-layout="inline"><p><strong>See also: </strong><a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/09/23/iphone6-touch-id-fingerprint-hack"><strong>Apple's Touch ID Fingerprint Scanner Is Still Hackable, But Don’t Panic</strong></a></p></blockquote><p>Qualcomm’s take on the fingerprint reader is ultrasonic, and uses sound waves to identity a user’s unique fingertip. The press release goes into the scientific details:</p><blockquote tml-render-layout="inline"><p>QTI's ultrasonic-based solution uses sound waves to directly penetrate the outer layers of skin, detecting three-dimensional details and unique fingerprint characteristics, including fingerprint ridges and sweat pores that are not possible to detect with current capacitive touch-based fingerprint technologies.</p></blockquote><p>ReadWrite's Adriana Lee tested out the feature at Qualcomm's booth at Mobile World Congress. The "holes" you can see in the fingerprint ridges are her sweat glands, visible with the sensor's fingerprint mapping technology.</p><div tml-image="ci01c874cdf001c80a" tml-image-caption="" tml-render-layout="inline"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,w_620/MTI4NDgxMDE2MTQ5OTc3NzMx.png" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>A more accurate fingerprint reader doesn’t just mean fewer rejected swipes. It also makes it more difficult for bad guys to fake a user’s fingerprint. </p><p>Snapdragon Sense ID will be built into Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 810 and 425 chips, and also available as a standalone part for manufacturers. Technology devices that utilize the fingerprint sensor technology should be available as soon as the later half of 2015.</p><p><em>Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite</em></p>It could be leagues ahead of Apple's Touch ID.http://readwrite.com/2015/03/02/qualcomm-fingerprint-reader-sense-id
http://readwrite.com/2015/03/02/qualcomm-fingerprint-reader-sense-idMobileMon, 02 Mar 2015 11:28:28 -0800Lauren OrsiniIntel And Samsung Join Battle Over The Internet Of Things<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01a33b7b84a2860e" tml-image-caption="Intel's Edison, an SD-card-sized Linux computer"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzk5Mjg5MDk4Mjc0MzE2.jpg" /><figcaption>Intel's Edison, an SD-card-sized Linux computer</figcaption></figure></div><p>Thirty years after one of the first wars for your home, another digital standards battle is brewing among Internet of Things providers.</p><p>Samsung, Intel and Dell announced Monday that they are combining forces to create a new wireless standard for the Internet of Things, connecting sensors, appliances and gadgets to the Internet in your home, business and automobile. <a href="http://www.openinterconnect.org/about-us/">The Open Internet Consortium</a> will include hardware component builders Broadcom and Amtel as well as embedded software provider Wind River.</p><blockquote tml-render-size="medium" tml-render-position="right"><p><strong>See also:&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/01/staples-connect-smart-home-zonoff-retail">Future-Proofing The Smart Home: Staples Thinks It Has The Answer</a></strong></p></blockquote><p><strong></strong></p><p>The Open Internet Consortium aims to battle the Qualcomm-led, open-source AllSeen Alliance, which provides its own wireless standard for the Internet of Things. It will also take on the Industrial Internet Consortium led by old technology industry titans like AT&amp;T, Cisco, General Electric and IBM. Intel is a member of both the Open Internet Consortium and the Industrial Internet Consortium; this sort of cross-consortium membership isn't unusual for companies who want to make sure they're on the winning side of standards battles no matter what.</p><p>Apple and Google are also are dabbling in the connected home and vehicle spaces with their iOS and Android operating systems, respectively. </p><h2>No Standard Rules Them All</h2><p>Consumers have been subjected to confusing standards battles before, especially in the home. HD DVD battled Blu-ray and lost in the war for high-quality movies on optical discs. Betamax fought VHS in the video cassette wars of the 1980s but lost the war, largely because VHS offered longer recording times and was&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2011/10/06/porn_is_no_longer_a_leading_indicator_of_web_innov">favored by pornographers</a>. </p><p>The so-called Internet of Things is about to explode as technology originally built for smartphones spreads across industries. Everything that can be connected to the Internet and can communicate with other devices will be online within the next decade. Your home, you car, your thermostat and probably even your toaster. Gadget makers, marketers and advertisers all see a burgeoning new technology and don’t want to be left out of the billions of dollars that will be generated once the Internet of Things becomes a reality. </p><p>Hence we now see a fragmented ecosystem of competing standards and interests all vying to be the dominant group for the next wave of technological evolution.</p><div tml-image="ci01a87e1edff5860f" tml-image-caption="" tml-render-size="medium" tml-render-position="right"><figure><img src="http://a3.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIxNDI3Mjk0MTY2MTU2ODEz.jpg" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div><p>Qualcomm is likely the early leader in this new standards race. The AllSeen Alliance has 51 members, including Microsoft, <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/07/02/microsoft-joins-allseen-alliance-internet-of-things-iot">which joined last week.</a> Qualcomm and its partners are already making connected devices like speakers, lamps, smoke detectors and even cribs. The new Open Internet Consortium will have some catching up to do.</p><p>Wireless standards for the Internet of Things will be incredibly important going forward. Consumers will need to make sure that the devices they are buying are compatible with the other devices they already own. The smartphone will become the remote for all other the gadgets in your life and it will need to be able to communicate with each one as simply and efficiently as possible.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Images courtesy of Intel and Samsung</em></p>Their Open Internet Consortium will vie with other wireless standards group to dominate your connected gadgets.http://readwrite.com/2014/07/08/open-internet-consortium-internet-of-things-standards
http://readwrite.com/2014/07/08/open-internet-consortium-internet-of-things-standardsMobileTue, 08 Jul 2014 08:22:40 -0700Dan RowinskiWhy 2014 Is The Year Of The Cheap Smartphone<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>2014 is the year that the rest of the world gets connected. Cheap computers and pervasive networks are reshaping the world, and the smartphone—specifically, the inexpensive smartphone—is emerging as the key to the Internet.</p><p>In the U.S. and other “mature” markets, smartphones are as ubiquitous as televisions and personal computers, and smartphone makers know that consumers are consistently willing to spend top dollar for the latest and greatest gadgets in the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Europe.&nbsp;But growth in these mature markets has stalled, and it's more difficult for second- and third-tier manufacturers to compete with behemoths like Apple and Samsung.</p><p><a href="https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2014/2/comScore_Reports_December_2013_US_Smartphone_Subscriber_Market_Share">According to research firm comScore</a>, fully 65% of all mobile users in the U.S. already own smartphones. At&nbsp;156 million consumers,&nbsp;that's roughly half the U.S. population.</p><p>So to keep their engines revving, smartphone manufacturers are now engaged in a race to the bottom with inexpensive phones designed to appeal to people in the developing world. Billions of consumer pockets are at stake. China is the biggest example, but smartphone makers are also pouring into India, Asia-Pacific countries like Indonesia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.&nbsp;</p><p>In previous years, the focus of the smartphone industry was asking “what” and “when” for the newest gadgets to hit the market. What features will the new Galaxy S5 debut? When is the iPhone 6 going to launch? This year, the focus has shifted. The question now is, “who is going to ship the most in India or China?”</p><p>There's no shortage of competitors.</p><h2>Apple’s Enigma</h2><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280c360048266" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNzE1MTY3ODY2MTM3.jpg" /></figure></div><p>Apple is an enigma where this trend is concerned. The iPhone maker broke with tradition last year and released two iPhone models—one of which, the less expensive and more colorful 5C, was part of Apple's effort to appeal to more price-sensitive consumer across the world.</p><p>The problem for Apple was that the 5C wasn't that much cheaper than its fuller-fledged cousin, the 5S. The base-version price difference between the two models was just $100—$550 for the 5C, $650 for the 5S.</p><p>Apple admitted in its last quarterly earnings call that it had miscalculated on the 5C, as more consumers than expected opted for the more technologically advanced 5S, which was only nominally more expensive. Even so, $550 for the iPhone 5C was still too high for Apple to reliably compete in the high-growth markets.</p><p>True, Apple has done moderately well in China—it sold about a million smartphones to China Mobile last quarter—and expects big growth this year with the country’s biggest carriers. Still, its phones largely appeal to China's newly wealthy elites, and it's far from a given that Apple will move down the volume chain to middle and lower income class Chinese consumers.</p><p>Apple did release a less expensive<a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/03/18/iphone-5c-price-8gb#awesm=~oz4QHnAd3CTTag">&nbsp;8GB version of the iPhone 5C</a> to European markets earlier this week; on its U.K. page, the 8GB model sells for £429 ($708), compared to £469 ($774) for the 16GB version. That's probably still not low enough to make the 5C competitive for budget-minded consumers.</p><p>You can never count Apple out, but the fact that its newest devices are clearly not targeted at the average emerging-market user means that it's not going to have as many opportunities to compete for the mass market in developing nations as its competitors are counting on.</p><h2>Microsoft And Nokia Move Down Market</h2><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b27909e0026d19" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMjkzMjIyNDA2OTc0NzQ1.jpg" /></figure></div><p>One of those competitors is Microsoft and its soon-to-be manufacturing arm Nokia. In February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft announced a forthcoming update to Windows Phone intended to let the mobile OS&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/02/23/windows-8-update-windows-phone-8-update-spring-2014#awesm=~oz4RYzfFMT7ZCP">work on cheaper hardware</a>&nbsp;in order to help smaller regional hardware manufacturers build budget devices. Earlier this month, we also heard rumors that Microsoft might also do away with licensing fees for Windows Phone—Microsoft normally charges device makers to install Windows—for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/13/5503718/windows-phone-free-indian-phone-makers-rumor">manufacturers in places such as India</a>.</p><p>“We did some things that have enabled us to really hit some key markets. New messaging software, new language capabilities. All kinds of stuff,” Microsoft's Greg Sullivan, a senior product manager for Windows Phone at Microsoft, said in an interview with ReadWrite.</p><blockquote tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><p><strong>See also:&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/11/13/how-nokia-needs-to-be-the-champion-of-windows-phone#awesm=~oz4RMwlkeFncVv">Nokia Has One Job: Drive The Growth Of Windows Phone</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>Nokia also has the <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/02/24/nokia-x-android-phone#awesm=~oz4SDsAk3KhJYQ">ambiguous Nokia X</a>, the Android smartphone that looks like a Windows Phone but which taps into Microsoft services—search, email and so forth—instead of Google’s. <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/02/24/nokia-x-android-apps-developers-consumers#awesm=~oz4SEPZGGZsePo">The basic strategy for the Nokia X seems sound</a> (access to third-party app stores, porting and side loading of apps) and the price is right at less than €100.</p><p>Now we just have to see if people actually buy the thing—and then whether it serves as the gateway drug to Windows Phone that Microsoft hopes.&nbsp;“From the broader perspective of that in the mobile phones business, it gets people using our services and then we think that the natural progression is that people will want a Windows Phone,” Sullivan said.</p><h2>Android Owns The Emerging Market</h2><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b27a2a00018266" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMjk0NDU5NjI1OTMxMzY2.jpg" /></figure></div><p>Any discussion of emerging markets for smartphones begins—and sometimes ends—with Android, which accounts for more than 80% of the global smartphone market. That doesn't mean Google is coasting, though.</p><p>When Google released its latest version of Android, one of the most significant changes was an overhaul specifically intended to ensure that Android's newest features and functions would work on lower-end hardware. In Android 4.4 KitKat, Google made the profile of the operating system fit into smartphones work on devices that run on as little as 512MB of RAM.</p><p>Google's motivation was partly just to persuade manufacturers to stop using old versions of Android (namely version 2.3 Gingerbread) in cheap new smartphone models. The manufacturing cycle has not yet caught up with KitKat—it was only running on 2.5% of Android devices that touch Google servers as of March 3—so the jury is still out on whether Google's strategy will pay off.&nbsp;</p><p>“Particularly at the low end but what we were seeing is that there were new versions of phones coming out with old versions of Android,” said Google’s head Android engineer <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/11/25/how-google-shrunk-android-for-version-44-kitkat#awesm=~oz4UcV8qHXhgsL">Dave Burke in an interview with ReadWrite last year.</a>&nbsp;“We put a lot of effort into reducing the raw footprint of Android so that KitKat could run on those entry-level smartphones,” Burke said.</p><p>Any and all comers to high-growth markets are trying to take market share from Android. This is easier said than done as Google has strong partnerships not only with the top of the heap smartphone makers like LG, Samsung, HTC and Sony, but also the mid-to-low level and white market (unbranded manufacturers) device builders like Huawei and ZTE that are shipping lots of phones to markets like China and India.</p><h2>And Then ... The Also-Rans</h2><p>Outside of the power three in Apple, Google and Microsoft, a number of smaller (and sometimes scrappier) companies and organizations are also targeting the fast-growing developing world. Mozilla is foremost among these competitors, and so far is one of the only ones to actually ship a device in any meaningful volume.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280fa80016d19" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxOTUyMTk2NDQ0Nzc0.jpg" /></figure></div><p>Mozilla created Firefox OS with the express purpose of targeting emerging markets. Mozilla’s manufacturing partners are the likes of Alcatel and KDDI, companies that don't sell phones in the U.S. yet still have large global footprints.</p><p>“I spent a lot of time traveling in South America when we launched. And, just to pick a country like Venezuela, we had community members come to Venezuela and train the local retail sales staff and design highly localized, relevant marketing campaigns,"&nbsp;Mozilla chief operating officer Jay Sullivan said in an interview with&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/02/23/mozilla-os-smartphones-mobile-world-congress#awesm=~oz4l6KMSZL1xA0">ReadWrite at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.</a>&nbsp;"The idea about Mozilla is scaling with people who really love what we do. So that’s how we kind of punch above our weight.”</p><p>Sullivan said analysts estimate that between 500,00 and 750,000 Firefox OS smartphones shipped in the first six months following the operating system’s debut. Mozilla announced that it was expanding to 12 new markets this year (up to a total of 27) with seven new devices during Mobile World Congress. The killer may be a $25 smartphone called SC6821 that Mozilla is making with chip manufacturer Spreadtrum this year.</p><p>After Mozilla, the competitive picture is considerably murkier. The mobile OS Tizen—the Linux-based bastard offspring of MeeGo—has been in development for years, but hasn't officially shipped on any smartphones; in fact, at this point the only products using Tizen are one Samsung-made camera and three smartwatches—the new Gear family of wearables from Samsung. So far, there's no firm indication that any manufacturer plans to ship a Tizen-based smartphone, much less any sense of where such a beast might be available, or at what price.</p><h2>Raising The Floor</h2><p>In 2013, the top of the line computer processing unit to be placed in smartphones what the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600. It made its way into the Samsung Galaxy S4 and other flagship smartphones. This year, the Snapdragon 600 is a middle-tier component for middle-tier smartphones. This is the nature of consumer electronics; what was hot yesterday is in today’s budget bin.</p><p>What has made this explosion of lower tier devices possible the is ubiquity and prevalence of highly functional but ultimately cheaper hardware. Companies like Google, Samsung, HTC, Apple and Microsoft built their smartphones and operating systems in order to run the best and most demanding new applications. Hardware makers like Qualcomm had to keep up with the demand for new functionality. Now all those lessons learned are shaping the next generation of budget smartphones.</p><p>“We scale our CPUs, we scale our GPUs to fit in the low-end parts,” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm, in an interview with ReadWrite at Mobile World Congress. “Now, when you do that one of the interesting things is that it lets the application, it lets the user experience that everybody has gone to that everybody expects from the high end to work at the low end.”</p><p>How this works in mobile realm is that component makers and smartphone manufacturers start off building high-end features like a great camera, fast, high-resolution displays, long battery life and great data connections into their best smartphones. Over time, you will see those features migrate to midrange and even budget phones.&nbsp;</p><p>“So for a while there the trend was really that more is better. You start with low resolution displays, qHD displays, full HD displays, 2K displays and now we are talking about 4K displays. Then the cameras went from 2-megapixels cameras, 4-megapixel cameras and so on,” Talluri said. “That is what we are really finding are that companies like Microsoft, companies like Nokia are saying we can now deploy at the low end and make good products.”</p>This is the year where cheap computers and pervasive networks manifest themselves in cheap smartphones sold across the world.http://readwrite.com/2014/03/24/cheap-smartphone-2014
http://readwrite.com/2014/03/24/cheap-smartphone-2014MobileMon, 24 Mar 2014 05:59:00 -0700Dan RowinskiHTC Making Its Own Smartwatch Based On Qualcomm's Toq Hardware<!-- tml-version="2" --><div tml-image="ci01b278d540016d19" tml-render-position="center" tml-render-size="large"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMjkyOTk2MTE1ODkwNzkw.jpg" /></figure></div><p>Smartphone maker HTC is making a smartwatch based on the hardware and design of Qualcomm’s Toq smartwatch.</p><blockquote tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><p><strong>See also:&nbsp;<a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/01/20/smartwatch-wearable-fitness-remote-control#awesm=~owpRJCaEkxqAIK">Why The All-In-One Smartwatch Isn't Happening Any Time Soon</a></strong></p></blockquote><p><a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/01/20/smartwatch-wearable-fitness-remote-control#awesm=~owpRJCaEkxqAIK">Two Qualcomm engineers told ReadWrite</a> in January at the Consumer Electronics Show that HTC had licensed the hardware and design of the Toq smartwatch including its Mirasol-based MEMS display and internal components. During CES, a Qualcomm product manager for the Toq project declined to comment on if HTC had licensed Toq.</p><p>Now&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/htc-said-to-plan-smartwatch-preview-amid-declining-market-share.html">Bloomberg reports</a> that HTC will be showing off wearable devices to cellular carriers at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week along with a smartwatch based on Google’s Now semantic search services with an AMOLED display. HTC is also said to be planning as a touchscreen smart wristband music player.</p><p>HTC getting into the smartwatch game is not much of a surprise as every gadget manufacturer in the world appears to be exploring wearable devices in one fashion or another.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;Qualcomm wants to place itself at the center of the wearable universe by supplying technology, software and components to wearable manufacturers in much the same way that it sells the computer processors that are embedded into smartphones and tablets. New Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said during a press conference at CES that the Toq was a proof-of-concept device to show off its technology (like the Mirasol display) to show off to its manufacturing partners. Qualcomm does not have major ambitions to enter the consumer gadget space on its own.</p><p>HTC is not announced plans for its potential line of smartwatches and Bloomberg reports that the wearable devices it will be showing to cellular operators at MWC next week will not be available for public display.</p><p><em>Top image: Qualcomm Toq by Dan Rowinski</em></p>HTC will get in on the arm race with its own smartwatch based on Qualcomm design and hardware.http://readwrite.com/2014/02/20/htc-has-licensed-qualcomm-toq-hardware-for-its-own-smartwatch
http://readwrite.com/2014/02/20/htc-has-licensed-qualcomm-toq-hardware-for-its-own-smartwatchMobileThu, 20 Feb 2014 05:58:00 -0800Dan RowinskiWhy The All-In-One Smartwatch Isn't Happening Any Time Soon<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>Call me a dreamer, but I want it all. I want a watch that can receive notifications and make phone calls while also tracking my heartbeat and fitness activity—and without needing a recharge every day or so. Sadly, this watch does not yet exist.</p><blockquote tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/05/07/the-hardware-realities-keeping-us-from-the-ideal-smartwatch#awesm=~ot2Ml1TW8ebyLq">The Hard(ware) Realities Keeping Us From The Ideal Smartwatch</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>And it's not likely to hit shelves any time soon, either. If the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month gave us anything, it was a clearer view of just how the nascent wearable computing and smartwatch markets are evolving. Briefly put, you should get used to smart “watches” that require tethering (of one sort or another) to a smartphone in order to take advantage of its superior processing power and wireless capabilities.</p><p>That means smartwatches are most likely to serve as niche, satellite devices—notification/communication gadgets, for instance, or health-related fitness trackers—for the immediate future. It also means that you're not likely to strap a smartphone onto your wrist any time soon—and no, Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy Gear doesn't count.</p><p>All that represents a fairly sharp break from the assumptions many people formed when smartwatch concepts started to emerge in <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/02/22/apple-smartwatch-patent#awesm=~ot37xibrdq6w4p">Apple</a>, <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/03/22/google-also-to-enter-arm-race-with-its-own-smartwatch#awesm=~ot37zUA8DgHbaP">Google</a> and <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/03/19/arm-race-samsung-to-build-a-smartwatch-too#awesm=~ot37xQQm6LIS6w">Samsung</a>&nbsp;patent filings last year. The technical challenges to the standalone Everything Smartwatch, it turns out, are way more daunting than you might have thought.</p><h2>The Incredible Shrinking PC</h2><p>When computer engineers at companies like Apple, Google, Intel, Microsoft, etc. etc. etc. set their sights on the phone several years back, their challenge was simple, if not easy: Deliver PC-like computing power in a handheld package that could maintain a good wireless connection with decent battery life. The iPhone basically hit the mark, at least in a rudimentary way, in January 2007. From that point, we were off to the races.</p><p>The smartphone of today is often more powerful than the PC of just a few years ago. Smartphones and tablets in 2014 will be running on 64-bit architecture and some will have up to 4GB of RAM. No wonder netbooks are dead.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280b820018266" tml-image-caption="Fitbit Flex" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a3.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNjY3MTE3OTE5NTEz.jpg" /><figcaption>Fitbit Flex</figcaption></figure></div><p>The watch, however, is different, and it's pretty clear that no one is planning on rerunning the smartphone playbook just yet. That's because there are some really big challenges in the way, which you could summarize as heat, juice and control.</p><h2>Heat</h2><p>Have you ever felt your smartphone get really hot when it's doing heavy lifting like streaming video or playing a game? That’s because the processor is shedding excess heat generated by its furious electronic activity.</p><p>A smartwatch that handles computing tasks like a smartphone will need a processor with some serious chops—but it will also have to run much cooler than its smartphone cousins. You can't easily set a smartwatch down if it gets too hot, and it really won't do for it to melt your watchband or give you first-degree burns.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b278d540016d19" tml-image-caption="Qualcomm Toq" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMjkyOTk2MTE1ODkwNzkw.jpg" /><figcaption>Qualcomm Toq</figcaption></figure></div><p>That's one big reason smartwatches today seem underpowered, at least by smartphone standards.&nbsp;It's telling, for instance, that the chip Qualcomm used for its <a href="http://readwrite.com/2014/01/03/qualcomm-toq-smartwatch-review#feed=/author/dan-rowinski&amp;awesm=~ot3cZdctjBKwAs">Toq</a> smartwatch isn't a variant of its own Snapdragon processor, used in many of today's smartphones. Instead, it's an ARM Cortex-M3, a microcontroller often used to perform relatively low-level functions in appliances, factories and automobiles.</p><p>The Cortex-M3 lacks several of the integrated functions you'd find in a Snapdragon—chief among them, wireless and GPS capabilities. That saves on processing power, and thus reduces its heat output; it also keeps the chip small enough to fit reasonably into a watch. But it complicates the process of turning a wristbound device into a real connected computer.</p><p>The Cortex-M3 can, of course, still act as a traffic cop by routing around data from other chips—a pedometer accelerometer, for instance, or an external GPS receiver. (The iPhone 5S M7 motion co-processor is designed on Cortex-M3.) But those functions aren't integrated into the Cortex-M3 chip itself, which is a big deal when you're trying to pack as much raw computing power as you can into a tiny watch-sized package.</p><p>Worse, few chip manufacturers are likely to take on the challenge of squeezing all those functions onto a single chip until they're convinced there's a <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/05/07/the-hardware-realities-keeping-us-from-the-ideal-smartwatch">viable market for the resulting product</a>. Doing so could take the clout of, say, an Apple—or <em>maybe</em> a Samsung.</p><p>Of course, several of the top smartwatches of 2013 do in fact rely on Snapdragon-class processors for their smarts. It's just that those processors are actually in smartphones tethered to the watches.</p><p>Until someone solves the heat and power conundrum, smartwatches are going to remain poor cousins of the smartphone. That's one big reason you've seen the wearables market specialize into&nbsp;many fitness bands and a couple of notification watches, but no device that combines those and other functions effectively. (Cost, of course, is also a factor; if your watch can't be everything, which would be pricey in any event, why not do just a few things well for the lowest price you can manage?)</p><h2>Juice</h2><p>Battery life is pretty key to any watch, smart or otherwise. If the battery must be recharged or replaced frequently, the experience becomes more frustrating than useful. Unfortunately, two of the most important aspects of a smartwatch are the biggest battery hogs—the processor (see above) and the screen.</p><p>Samsung's Galaxy Gear has a smartphone-style Super AMOLED display running an 800 MHz processor. This will come as a shock, but the Gear's battery life is abysmal. Samsung predicts just 25 hours of continuous use; some reviewers counted themselves lucky to keep the watch charged for two full days, counting idle time.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280a620016d19" tml-image-caption="E-Ink Seiko Watch" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTg5MDAzMjcyODA2.jpg" /><figcaption>E-Ink Seiko Watch</figcaption></figure></div><p>&nbsp;Blame the screen.&nbsp;Only a few of today's smartwatches can actually measure battery usage in days, not hours, and that's largely because they've opted for alternative (and sometimes limited) screen technologies.</p><p>The Pebble, for instance, uses what it calls a "transflective LCD" made by Sharp; it's monochrome and slow, but power-efficient. The Toq uses its own MEMS-based screen standard called Mirasol.&nbsp;E-Ink, the company that makes the screens for Amazon's Kindle e-readers, also makes screens for some forthcoming, if rudimentary, smartwatches that can receive notifications (see <a href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/archos-smartwatches-tested-at-ces-2014/">here</a> and <a href="http://www.sonostar.com/">here</a>, for instance).</p><blockquote tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><p><strong>See also: <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/11/18/qualcomms-toq-smartwatch-shows-off-the-future-of-displays">Qualcomm's Toq Smartwatch Shows Off The Future Of Displays</a></strong></p></blockquote><p>These alternascreens yield pretty good battery life for a watch, typically between four and 10 days. And some of them may be starting to catch on in a bigger way. HTC, for instance, has already licensed Qualcomm’s design and hardware kit, according to an individual familiar with the situation.</p><h2>Control</h2><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280b890016d19" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,w_620/MTIyMzAxNjY4NDYwMTY3Nzgy.png" /></figure></div><p>Smartwatches, so far, are also just intrinsically hard to control. Keyboards, virtual or otherwise, are right out, and small screens limit the usefulness of touch-based controls. That leaves many modern smartwatches with side-button controls that bring to mind all the fun button-mashing of early digital watches and the gracefulness of texting from a numerical keypad.</p><p>Futuristic alternatives could save the day. Voice command and recognition, already present in Apple's Siri and Google Now, is certainly one possibility. Gesture-based computing, sort of like what Google has done with X8 Computing System in the Moto X, might be another. Augmented reality displays like the examples in Google's smartwatch patent could be interesting.</p><p>But any whiz-bang technology like this will take more processing power, thereby increasing demands on the processor and battery and generating more heat. It's not an insoluble problem by any stretch of the imagination. But it is something of a vicious circle in the meantime.</p><h2>Jewelry Or Computer?</h2><p>When the incredible shrinking PC morphed from laptops and netbooks to phones and tablets, it met a compelling need: powerful mobile computing for an increasingly contextual and connected world. Wearable computing—again, at least for now—is in a different place.</p><p>Cellphones were already big before smartphones; everybody needs a phone of some sort, so a phone that did more stuff was a natural evolution for the vast majority of people. By contrast, not everybody needs or wants a watch, especially since the phone essentially subsumed the timekeeping function for many. (Even fewer people think they need a wearable device like Google Glass, which is much more, well, in your face.)</p><p>Watches have been and will probably always be jewelry, worn by some but not all. Even when if the fundamental problems of heat dispensation, battery life and processor are solved, it's entirely possible that many people just won't want to wear their computers on their bodies.</p><p>Until there's a killer app that convinces them otherwise, that is.</p><p><em>Lead image via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/79578508@N08/12030785194/sizes/l/">Flickr user Decade City</a>, CC 2.0</em></p>Give up hopes for computational wristwear that can do most of what your smartphone does, at least for now.http://readwrite.com/2014/01/20/smartwatch-wearable-fitness-remote-control
http://readwrite.com/2014/01/20/smartwatch-wearable-fitness-remote-controlMobileMon, 20 Jan 2014 07:01:00 -0800Dan RowinskiHow We Are Entering The Second Phase Of The Mobile Revolution<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>Think your smartphone is smart? You ain't seen nuthin' yet. The technology that powers mobile is in the process of spreading, well, everywhere—and the world around us is going to be radically transformed as a result.</p><p>Think of it as the next big phase in the evolution of mobile computing. Cars, televisions, factories, clothes and other wearable items ... you name it, and the innovations that were developed for smartphones are going to help define the new things they'll do and how you'll use them.</p><p>The first phase of mobile was about turning our cellphones into what are essentially powerful pocket PCs. This posed unique challenges because of the size of the device and data connectivity issues. Over the past seven years (dating from the launch of the first iPhone), engineers worked to make everything smaller and faster while software developers created apps and systems to turn a cellphone into an "everything" device. The second phase will be to take that concept of everything and spread it everywhere. The connected home, the smart car, the television and commerce are all being informed by the advances that have been made in mobile.</p><p>“We are in the middle of the inflection point from developing the technology to deploying it,” said Ericsson&nbsp;CEOHans Vestberg when describing what he called the second phase of mobile at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.&nbsp;</p><p>We're not talking about mundane advances in single areas like improved operating systems or apps. The proliferation is more ubiquitous than that. The next phase of mobile will result from continuing rapid advances in just about every technology that makes it possible for that device in your hand to query huge remote databases and perform complex calculations—all so you can figure out the fastest way home from work or play a round of <em>Angry Birds</em>.</p><p>The spread and evolution of mobile technology includes the cellular base stations that serve as the nodes in an ever denser web of wireless data; the processors and communication components do the heavy lifting; the sensors that feed in data from your environment; and the software that makes sense of it all. All of these technologies are getting smarter, faster, smaller, less power-intensive and more numerous—which is a big part of why they're rapidly spreading beyond smartphones and tablets into the world at large.</p><h2>Making Everything Smart</h2><p>“We want to make everything smart,” Brian Krzanich said during his Monday keynote at the CES.</p><p>He wasn't kidding. Just about every physical object the Intel CEO described during his presentation was an augmented version of itself, from "smart" ear buds and watches to coffee cups that ask to be refilled and onesies that signal parents when it's time to change the baby.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280a590018266" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTg3MTI0Mjg0Njk3.jpg" /></figure></div><p>Of course, these items aren't going to make themselves smart. But the hard part may already be over, since industry has already done the hard work of taking the sophisticated computing and communication hardware that used to reside in beige boxes with noisy fans and cramming it into flat slabs of metal and glass that fit in our pockets.</p><p>"We are designing for one of the hardest devices" to get right,” Qualcomm VP Tim McDonough said of the smartphone. “The challenges of the smartphone translate really well" to devices that can be used in a variety of other ways, he added. "If you can make this work in a smartphone, you can make it work in everything.”</p><p>That's right. Everything.</p><p>This proliferation of technology built for mobile into every aspect of computing is exactly what we're seeing. New applications, services and devices are standing on the shoulders of hardware and software originally created for smartphones. LG’s new smart televisions run on webOS, an operating system originally created for Palm handhelds. Wearable devices like smartwatches or Google Glass feature components once found solely in smartphones. Cars offer Bluetooth wireless connections and onboard computer.</p><p>Soon enough, so will a lot of other things. "The technology is spreading across different devices and we are tailoring the capability to those particular devices,” McDonough said.</p><h2>The Democratic Effects Of Ubiquitous Innovation&nbsp;</h2><p>Freeing smartphone capabilities from that oblong slab has been liberating for developers and engineers. Often enough, they can now dream bigger and play with far more real estate than smartphones offered—say, in cars, homes, televisions and larger tablets. We're only starting to see the first fruits of that experimentation, but it's clear there's going to be a lot more.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280a620016d19" tml-image-caption="E-Ink Seiko Watch" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTg5MDAzMjcyODA2.jpg" /><figcaption>E-Ink Seiko Watch</figcaption></figure></div><p>As this happens, key changes are taking place in the world's computing and communications infrastructure as well. Driven by exploding demand, cellular networks are growing denser, delivering greater bandwidth and continuing to expand into new areas.</p><p>AT&amp;T VP John Donovan noted at a CES keynote panel that the data signal from a smartphone used to travel as much as five miles to the nearest base station; now that signal travels only about two miles. Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs envisions a world with a cell station for every person, making data more available than ever before.</p><p>On top of that infrastructure lie the platforms that giants of the tech industry are busily building—platforms that make it possible to develop new applications and services without reinventing the wheel. Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and their ilk are making it cheaper and easier to create than ever before.</p><p>“You don’t know necessarily where this next great thing is coming from,” Qualcomm’s Jacobs said at CES. “It takes fewer and fewer people to do something pretty dramatic in this world. You give people the capability and you would be surprised what they come up with.”</p><p>And that's exactly what this profusion of mobile technology and capabilities is poised to enable.</p>Don't look now, but mobile technology is starting to infiltrate ... everything.http://readwrite.com/2014/01/10/mobile-everywhere-smart-devices-internet-things
http://readwrite.com/2014/01/10/mobile-everywhere-smart-devices-internet-thingsMobileFri, 10 Jan 2014 08:03:00 -0800Dan RowinskiWhat CES 2014 Is Really About: Your Connected Future<!-- tml-version="2" --><p>You're at the doctor’s office for your annual check up. At the end of the physical, the doctor gives you a prescription to take to the pharmacist … and a smartwatch. The doctor tells you that it wants to monitor your heart rate and activity for the next several weeks to determine a baseline of your health and fitness.&nbsp;</p><p>If the doctor is concerned with your heart, she might also give you a sensor that is injected into your bloodstream. She says that this sensor can alert you to a possible heart attack two weeks before it actually happens.&nbsp;</p><p>Then you go home, in a car that drives itself, while you catch up on the work you missed while at the doctor’s appointment.&nbsp;</p><p>At home you open the door and use your smartphone to turn on the lights in your home, set the TV to record the next episode of <em>Downtown Abbey</em> and preheat the oven.&nbsp;</p><p>“Play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony,” you say to nobody in particular. Moments later, the familiar notes are blasting through your house. You sit down on the sofa—perhaps the only thing in the house that doesn’t have its own data connection—wave your hand at your television to turn it on and say, “call Tim.” In a minute you are video chatting with your husband who is at a conference in Chicago.&nbsp;</p><p>You eat dinner, watch that episode of <em>Downton Abbey</em> and go to bed. While you are sleeping the smartwatch that the doctor gave you monitors your breathing and sleep rhythm and uploads the data to a personal secure cloud that only your physician can access.&nbsp;</p><p>A few weeks pass. Eventually, the doctor calls and says, “don’t worry. Everything is OK. The sensors say that your heart is just fine. See you next week.”</p><p>All of this may sound like a weird version of science fiction. It’s not. This is the future you.</p><h2>Sensors In Your Body</h2><p>The sensor that can be injected into your veins to monitor your bloodstream is already a reality, sort of.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280a4c0016d19" tml-image-caption="From left to right: Ericsson&amp;#039;s Hans Vestberg, Andrew Keen, Qualcomm&amp;#039;s Paul Jacobs and AT&amp;amp;T&amp;#039;s John Donovan at CES 2014" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTgzNjM0NDkyNjk3.jpg" /><figcaption>From left to right: Ericsson&amp;#039;s Hans Vestberg, Andrew Keen, Qualcomm&amp;#039;s Paul Jacobs and AT&amp;amp;T&amp;#039;s John Donovan at CES 2014</figcaption></figure></div><p>“We are doing a clinical trial in San Diego of a sensor that will get injected into your bloodstream and tell you two weeks before you have a heart attack,” said Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs in a panel discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Actually, the research is <a href="http://www.stsiweb.org/index.php/news_events/detail/stsi_and_scripps_health_receive_3.75m_qualcomm_grant_for_digital_medicine">intended to "validate" use of the biosensors</a>; actual proof that they can actually predict heart attacks is most likely years away.)</p><p>The smartwatch that monitors your heart and fitness activity? That exists in a variety of forms. FitBit and the Nike FuelBand are the most prominent, but companies like Intel have created new watches that function on without need to connect them to a smartphone.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280a520018266" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTg1NTEzNTQ2MzQy.jpg" /></figure></div><p>The new Intel smartwatch, announced by CEO Brian Krzanich at the CES keynote presentation on Monday, even has a “smart geo-fencing” feature that can keep track of where you are and what you are doing.&nbsp;Say your grandmother is ill and starting to suffer from dementia. She often loses her way and become confused to her surroundings. A smartwatch like the one that Intel announced could keep track of her and give you an alert if she leaves the grounds of the nursing home where she lives.&nbsp;</p><p>The future of computing is not just the ability to get push notifications to device you wear on your wrist, answer a phone call or take a picture. It is about gathering and using data to make your life better, easier and more productive. The machines should make life less complicated. Companies like Intel and Qualcomm are leading the charge in innovation by building the platforms, processors and tools that will fundamentally alter how people live their lives.&nbsp;</p><div tml-image="ci01b280a5a0016d19" tml-render-position="left" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTg3MzkyNTg5MDgx.jpg" /></figure></div><p>For instance, take the new “Edison” chip from Intel. The chip is essentially its own smart computer that can be implanted into just about everything. When Krzanich announced it at CES this week, he showed it off with a baby’s onesie that could monitor how the child was breathing, its temperature and even the position it's laying in.</p><p>This may sound kind of creepy, but baby monitors are already an essential item for every new parent. Chips like Edison and its progeny will create the next generation of systems for our everyday lives.</p><h2>The World That Is Connected To Everything</h2><p>If we are talking about the once and future definition of “mobile computing,” we look at a world where our smartphone becomes a hub that can control everything around us. Processes and behaviors can become automated and we use the smartphone to monitor and control everything from our homes to our cars.</p><p>“I just want my machines to coordinate with my other machines and leave me out of it,” John Donovan, AT&amp;T's senior executive vice president of technology and network operations, said at CES this week. “The mobile phone will be the remote control of your life.”</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b280a630016d19" tml-image-caption="Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTg5MjcxNjM3Mjcz.jpg" /><figcaption>Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf</figcaption></figure></div><p>“We are very, very pleased to see the trend of the smartphone leading us to growth in other industries,” said new Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf at a question and answer session at CES. “We will drive it in tiers. Across device types and price points.”</p><p>What Mollenkopf meant is that the explosive growth of smartphones is now informing the next generation of computing. The same processors that make smartphones so smart are now turning up in consumer products like smartwatches, thermostats, home appliances and more. For instance, ARM-based processors power gadgets like the Nest thermostat that can learn if you are home and automatically change the temperature for you.</p><p>Even legendary science fiction author Isaac Asimov could not have predicted how intelligent ours systems will eventually become. We are driving computers everywhere, into every aspect of our lives. The effect of this is not easily quantifiable because the scope and impact is massive. A few years ago, bloodstreams sensors or smartwatches seemed like crazy pie-in-the-sky topics among geeks sitting at the pub.&nbsp;</p><p>Today, it is a reality that will rapidly become the norm.</p>And that future is already here.http://readwrite.com/2014/01/07/ces-2014-qualcomm-wearables-connected-home-intel
http://readwrite.com/2014/01/07/ces-2014-qualcomm-wearables-connected-home-intelMobileTue, 07 Jan 2014 16:30:00 -0800Dan RowinskiA Smartwatch With Brains And Style<!-- tml-version="2" --><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b2817db0008266" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,w_620/MTIyMzAyNTE0ODM3MDg5NTYx.png" /></figure></div><p><em>Sponsored by <a href="http://bit.ly/1cLQ95t">Qualcomm® Toq™</a>—the smartwatch that's always on, active and visible in any light.&nbsp;</em><em>As a promotional post, this post reflects the views of the writer, not ReadWrite's editors.</em></p><p>The arm race has just gotten started, but the <a href="http://bit.ly/1cLQ95t">Qualcomm Toq smartwatch</a> has a distinctive edge: It makes your most important information more visible than the rest.</p><p>It’s the only color smartwatch whose display features crisp, clear images, even in the brightest daylight. The larger surface and color touchscreen display is always on and active for days between charges.</p><p>With the Qualcomm Toq, you can leave your smartphone in your pocket or purse. The Toq receives instant updates from your smartphone via Bluetooth wireless. With a flick of the wrist, the device displays notifications for calls, texts, email and more. Using Qualcomm's own AllJoyn technology, the Toq does run its own apps. But the smartwatch is meant to sync with Android smartphones and can be customized to display just the information you need.</p><h2>No More “On" Button</h2><p>Watches don’t have “on-off” buttons, nor does the Toq smartwatch. Its screen is always on and always ready to go, giving you your key information with just a glance.</p><p>Now you can stay current without reaching into your pocket or purse. No more scrolling through notifications and checking your smartphone hundreds of times a day.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b2817e70018266" tml-image-caption="The Qualcomm runs its own apps and syncs with Android phones." tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAyNTE3Nzg5ODc5NTc3.jpg" /><figcaption>The Qualcomm runs its own apps and syncs with Android phones.</figcaption></figure></div><p>The stunning graphics are made possible by the Qualcomm Mirasol reflective display. Instead of using a typical backlit display found in other smartwatches and some tablet computers, sensors in the watch use ambient light around it so you can see your screen anywhere. If it’s too dark, a double tap on the wristband above the face of the Toq turns it on.</p><p>The Qualcomm Mirasol display makes the Toq the first smartwatch to use micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based Interferometric Modulation (IMOD) technology. This makes the display experience similar to a high-definition television screen. The bottom line: You won’t battle the sun to see your important information.</p><p>And where other displays gulp power, the Toq runs on a low-power 200MHz Cortex M3 processor. This means the Toq can be constantly on and active for longer between charges.</p><h2>Get A Charge—Wirelessly</h2><p>The Qualcomm Toq is also innovative in its wireless charging system. Using Qualcomm WiPower LE Magnetic Resonance technology, the smartwatch eliminates the need for multiple chargers and wires. Simply resting in its cradle, the Toq does not require very precise alignment of devices—just drop it in.</p><h2>Never Miss A Call Or Skip A Beat</h2><p>If the Qualcomm Toq looks good, the sound will impress you too. With high-definition wireless stereo headsets you can really pamper yourself. The optional Toq Bluetooth earbuds feature high-quality stereo audio with a dedicated tweeter and woofer for a superior sound. The headsets are also lightweight and sit above the ear canal to prevent hearing loss.</p><p>The controls on the Qualcomm Toq smartwatch let you play the songs you want from your smartphone in the order you want them.</p><p>The time has come to receive notifications and alerts from your wrist. You <a href="http://bit.ly/1cLQ95t">can order</a>&nbsp;the Qualcomm Toq now.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b2817db0008266"><figure><img src="http://a1.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,w_620/MTIyMzAyNTE0ODM3MDg5NTYx.png" /></figure></div><p><em>Sponsored by <a href="http://bit.ly/1cLQ95t">Qualcomm® Toq™</a>—the smartwatch that's always on, active and visible in any light.&nbsp;</em><em>As a promotional post, this post reflects the views of the writer, not ReadWrite's editors.</em></p>It’s early in the smartwatch revolution, but one device has a visible advantage. (Sponsored by Qualcomm)http://readwrite.com/2013/12/30/qualcomm-toq-smartwatch-sponsored
http://readwrite.com/2013/12/30/qualcomm-toq-smartwatch-sponsoredMobileMon, 30 Dec 2013 10:01:00 -0800ReadWrite SponsorsAll I Want For Christmas Is An End To All These Cables<!-- tml-version="2" --><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b2809dd0036d19" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a4.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAxNTU0MTA2Nzk0NTk4.jpg" /></figure></div><p><em><a href="http://readwrite.com/series/body">ReadWriteBody</a> is an ongoing series where ReadWrite covers networked fitness and the quantified self.</em></p><p>When's the last time you had to charge your sneakers? Or your dumbbells?</p><p>It seems like a ridiculous question, but if the wearable industry is going to get serious about becoming part of our fitness routines, it has to pull the plug.</p><h2>Wearable Designers Aren’t Cable Guys</h2><p>The current generation of smart devices we wear on our wrist or elsewhere on our body are almost all hobbled by the same antiquated requirement: a cable tethering it to a PC for power and data.</p><p>It's almost as if the designers of these devices recognize that plugging in a wearable device is inherently lame, and aren’t even trying to make it better. Every device I’ve played with has a thoughtful industrial design—until you get to the cable. Every cable is different, in its own uniquely bad way.</p><p>The Basis B1’s charger snaps onto the face of the wellness-monitoring device. The Pebble's charger slips onto the side. The Mio Alpha, a heart-rate monitor, has a fold-up charger that seems clever when you tuck it away—but idiotically short and awkward when you try to actually plug it in somewhere. &nbsp;Don’t get me started on the ludicrous charger for my Polar Loop.</p><p>The only charger I like is <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/11/12/whistle-tracker-dog">literally for the dogs</a>—Whistle, a canine fitness tracker, snaps out of its holster and into its charger with a clean movement. If only we humans had it so good.</p><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b281a6b0016d19" tml-image-caption="A bestiary of beastly cables. Clockwise from left: The Basis B1, the Polar Loop, the Pebble smartwatch, and the Mio Alpha." tml-render-size="large"><figure><img src="http://a2.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAyNjkxNDY3NzU2MTM0.jpg" /><figcaption>A bestiary of beastly cables. Clockwise from left: The Basis B1, the Polar Loop, the Pebble smartwatch, and the Mio Alpha.</figcaption></figure></div><p>Why don't they all just use Micro-USB, you ask?&nbsp;Designing a plug for wearables is challenging.&nbsp;One obvious obstacle: Most wearables needs to be water-resistant if not waterproof, so they can stand up to sweat and go into the shower with you. That requires a different design. (Almost all use USB, the PC standard, on the other end of the cable.) And wearable designers are optimizing for size, style, and charging speed rather than compatibility—there’s no benefit to sharing a charging-cable design with a competitor.</p><p>The answer is to get rid of cables altogether.</p><p>First of all, no device should ever require you to plug it in to transfer data to a laptop. What is this, 1999? We are <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/10/31/bluetooth-fitness-gadgets">civilized people who have things called Bluetooth and Wi-Fi</a>. If our phones can handle over-the-air software updates, then we shouldn't have to plug devices into a PC to download updates. (The Basis B1, for example, requires this.)</p><p>Yet Bluetooth has its limitations. Right now, for example, my Polar H7 heart-rate strap can talk via Bluetooth either to my Polar Loop or my iPhone—but not both at the same time. That’s <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/12/04/bluetooth-wireless-developers-consumers-smartwatch">going to change soon</a>, fortunately, in the next upgrade to Bluetooth.</p><p>And wearables are just now adopting Bluetooth Smart, a low-energy version of Bluetooth technology, for data transfer. As that becomes widespread and Bluetooth gains better point-to-point networking abilities, cables for data should become a thing of the past.</p><h2>Why Wireless Charging Hasn’t Powered Up</h2><p>The real revolution will come with wireless charging. Sadly, though, wearables, which are a natural for wireless charging, may be the last to get it.</p><p>Right now, there are <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241872/Why_you_plug_gadgets_into_the_wall_like_a_Neanderthal?">three warring coalitions</a> backing different standards, as Computerworld’s Mike Elgan recently noted: the <a href="http://powermatters.org/">Power Matters Alliance</a> (PMA), the <a href="http://wirelesspowerconsortium.com/">Wireless Power Consortium</a> (WPC), and the <a href="http://www.a4wp.org/">Alliance for Wireless Power</a> (A4WP). All three seem focused on charging standards for smartphones, tablets, and laptops, with wearables barely under discussion. &nbsp;The WPC is backing the Qi wireless-power standard, while the A4WP recently announced Rezence as the consumer brand for its standard.</p><p>The Qualcomm Toq smartwatch, which <a href="http://readwrite.com/2013/11/18/qualcomms-toq-smartwatch-shows-off-the-future-of-displays">ReadWrite’s Dan Rowinski recently explored in depth</a>, is one of the first wearables on the market with wireless charging. It uses a technology Qualcomm calls WiPower LE, for low-energy. <em>(Editor’s note: Qualcomm recently sponsored some posts in the ReadWriteBody series.)</em></p><p>But while the main WiPower standard is compatible with the A4WP Rezence standard, WiPower LE is not, Geoff Gordon, a senior manager for product marketing at Qualcomm, told me. (Qualcomm is a member of A4WP, and Gordon is the chair of its marketing committee.)</p><p>That shows how nascent the standards are. It does us no good if we replace a pile of incompatible cables with a pile of incompatible wireless-charging mats. We may see a consolidation of standards in 2014—but that will likely only deliver wireless charging for devices with screens.</p><p>“The plan is to address” a standard for low-power devices like wearables in 2014, Gordon told me—which means it may well be 2015 at the earliest before we have chips and software widely available for device manufacturers. Optimizing these devices for cost, power, and design will take even more time.</p><p>That's a pity. I don’t think it’s that hard to plug in your phone; it’s now part of our everyday routine. It's wearable devices, which should stay on our bodies all the time, which really need wireless charging. If someone can think of a way to break through the slow standard-setting process and get wireless charging to the mass market, I say more power to them.</p><p><em>Do you want to unplug your wearables? <a href="http://twitter.com/owenthomas">Tell me about it.</a></em></p>Wireless charging can't come soon enough for the wearable revolution.http://readwrite.com/2013/12/19/wearables-wireless-charging
http://readwrite.com/2013/12/19/wearables-wireless-chargingWebThu, 19 Dec 2013 13:27:42 -0800Owen ThomasQualcomm Taps Mollenkopf As New Chief, Taking Him Out Of Microsoft Consideration<!-- tml-version="2" --><p></p><div tml-image="ci01b2819f40006d19" tml-render-position="right" tml-render-size="medium"><figure><img src="http://a5.files.readwrite.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,q_80,w_620/MTIyMzAyNjU4OTg3MTk3MDMw.jpg" /></figure></div><p>Qualcomm today made chief operating officer Steve Mollenkopf its chief executive officer-elect and added him to its board of directors. He will continue to remain the company's president. Mollenkopf will take over the CEO position full time as of March 4, 2014.&nbsp;</p><p>Mollenkopf will replace Paul E. Jacobs as the CEO of Qualcomm. Jacobs will remain the executive chairman of Qualcomm's board of directors.&nbsp;Mollenkopf has served at Qualcomm for 20 years. Jacobs has been the CEO of Qualcomm since July 2005. Here's said Sherry Lansing, presiding director of Qualcomm's board of directors, in a press release:</p><blockquote><p>With today's announcement, we enable a smooth transition to a proven executive in Steve Mollenkopf, while providing for ongoing executive guidance and Board-level leadership from Paul Jacobs. Qualcomm's Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment of Steve Mollenkopf to the board of directors and his transition to CEO. &nbsp;We have the highest degree of confidence that his leadership will further expand Qualcomm's impressive record of innovation and continued stockholder value creation.</p></blockquote><p>By promoting Mollenkopf to the CEO position, Qualcomm likely takes him off the short list of candidates to take over the Microsoft CEO position. <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/12/5205170/microsoft-reportedly-considering-qualcomm-coo-steve-mollenkopf-for-ceo">Reports surfaced earlier this week</a> that Mollenkopf had become one of the leading candidates to replace Steve Ballmer, who will retire sometime in the next year.&nbsp;</p>Steve Mollenkopf was rumored to be on the short list of Microsoft's CEO candidates. http://readwrite.com/2013/12/13/qualcomm-promotes-mollenkopf-to-ceo-likely-out-of-running-to-lead-microsoft
http://readwrite.com/2013/12/13/qualcomm-promotes-mollenkopf-to-ceo-likely-out-of-running-to-lead-microsoftMobileFri, 13 Dec 2013 05:04:00 -0800Dan Rowinski